Elon is next foe for N.C. A&T

By Adam Smith / Times-News

Published: Tuesday, September 10, 2013 at 12:31 AM.

GREENSBORO — North Carolina A&T’s stunning football upset of Appalachian State created a celebratory post-game scene, coach Rod Broadway said, with a special pride palpable in the Aggies locker room and during their bus ride home from Boone.

But a berserk mosh pit, an all-out triumphant bash, it certainly was not.

And in addition to the general sense of accomplishment, another emotion probably was more prevalent.

“Our guys were excited, but not overly so,” Broadway said Monday. “To be frank with you, they expected to win. They have a little air about them. They have a confidence about them. They think we’re going to play well when we play.”

So there’s no reason to expect that N.C. A&T (1-0) will arrive at Saturday night’s home opener against Elon (1-1) infused by anything less than maximum self-assurance.

Whether the magnitude fully registered with the Aggies — who won their season opener 24-21 without suspended quarterback Lewis Kindle — they are coming off the program’s most significant victory in years, maybe even a decade or more.

N.C. A&T, still navigating the rough waters of scholarship reductions and practice restrictions due to NCAA academic penalties, defeated a non-historically black program for the first time since September 2004 and, in the process, ended Appalachian State’s 32-game home winning streak against in-state opponents, a run that began back in October 1984.

GREENSBORO — North Carolina A&T’s stunning football upset of Appalachian State created a celebratory post-game scene, coach Rod Broadway said, with a special pride palpable in the Aggies locker room and during their bus ride home from Boone.

But a berserk mosh pit, an all-out triumphant bash, it certainly was not.

And in addition to the general sense of accomplishment, another emotion probably was more prevalent.

“Our guys were excited, but not overly so,” Broadway said Monday. “To be frank with you, they expected to win. They have a little air about them. They have a confidence about them. They think we’re going to play well when we play.”

So there’s no reason to expect that N.C. A&T (1-0) will arrive at Saturday night’s home opener against Elon (1-1) infused by anything less than maximum self-assurance.

Whether the magnitude fully registered with the Aggies — who won their season opener 24-21 without suspended quarterback Lewis Kindle — they are coming off the program’s most significant victory in years, maybe even a decade or more.

N.C. A&T, still navigating the rough waters of scholarship reductions and practice restrictions due to NCAA academic penalties, defeated a non-historically black program for the first time since September 2004 and, in the process, ended Appalachian State’s 32-game home winning streak against in-state opponents, a run that began back in October 1984.

Two years ago, in Broadway’s first season, Appalachian State unloaded a 58-6 beatdown on the Aggies.

Broadway said Monday that N.C. A&T has about 50 scholarship players this season. The standard for the Football Championship Subdivision, the level on which N.C. A&T and Elon compete, is 63 scholarships.

Meanwhile, Appalachian State, the three-time FCS champion, growing and transitioning to the Football Bowl Subdivision next year, is operating with more than 70 scholarship players this season as part of the move up.

“Once we get through this season, we get to take our handcuffs off and we get to fight fair,” Broadway said. “It’s been a major unfair fight the last two years, having your hands tied behind your back. When we came here (in 2011) we only had 29 guys on scholarship. … After this, everything’s going to clear up for us and we’ll get on even ground again.”

Broadway, a trumpeter of technique and fundamentals, said his paramount concern entering the Appalachian State game was the Aggies’ lack of preparation time.

N.C. A&T didn’t have a session of spring practices earlier this year, another consequence of the academic sanctions. The Aggies started their season at Appalachian State’s Kidd Brewer Stadium drawing on the customary allotment of 29 practices in August.

“I was worried about our fundamentals,” Broadway said, “and it was glaring. When you go back and look at the tape, it just jumps out at you play after play after play, the things you usually try to get taught in the course of spring practice.”

Tony McRae’s 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and D’Vonte Grant’s 57-yard interception return for a touchdown became crucial contributing factors as N.C. A&T scored on offense, defense and special teams to build a 24-6 lead on Appalachian State with less than nine minutes remaining.

The Aggies then survived a two-touchdown rally by the Mountaineers in the final 5½ minutes. With four seconds left, Appalachian State’s Drew Stewart missed what would have been the tying field goal from 46 yards.

“We had to hold on and pray a little bit,” Broadway said. “Being the opening game, I thought we got a little winded and we weren’t playing quite as fast. We’re happy to be 1-0, and looking forward to getting better.”